Acceptance is Surprisingly Easy
by Agent Frostbite
Summary: Bucky Barnes turns up at the Tower, and Tony decides to try to be nice, if only to shut up his father. Non CA:CW compliant because I'm not emotionally ready for it and likely never will be.


Tony thought that after the Ultron mess, dodging the press, and trying to fix things with Fury, his life would settle down for a bit. Then Bucky Barnes dragged himself to Avengers Tower, bruised and bleeding and in need of help. He saw the assassin, and his eyes glazed over. Steve had told him that Bucky knew about Tony's parents' deaths, and the way he said it, Tony knew that Barnes had something to do with it. It wasn't until someone dredged up a file dictating what had happened that he understood the full scale of Barnes' involvement with his parents' deaths.

He shut himself off to everyone for a couple weeks. Only Pepper, Bruce, Rhodey, Vision, and Jarvis could talk to him because they were the only ones allowed in his lab. Steve went down every day for the first week, knocking on the door and asking to come in. Tony never answered. Steve gave up. The rest of the team tried and failed to get in. Everyone gave it a shot, and everyone failed. Even those who were able to get in couldn't get a word out of him concerning the Winter Soldier. "Talk to him, Tony," Pepper said softly. He almost answered her. He thought better of it and kept his mouth shut.

At the very end of day 14, Tony's dad came back. _"You're a selfish coward, Tony."_ And if for no other reason than to prove his dad wrong, to shut him up, he left the lab and went upstairs. It was dinner, and everyone showed up for dinner, so everyone would be there, likely including Barnes. He tried to think of something to say on the way there, couldn't, got worried he'd choke, almost lost his nerve, and was yanked out of his doubts by the elevator ding.

He walked in, and everyone's attention went to him right away. It felt like a spotlight, and he could work with a spotlight. He flashed his dazzling billionaire smile, his 'Everything is fine with me; why wouldn't it be?' one. The first person he looked for was Pepper – who saw him and beamed – and once he found her, he looked for and found Bucky Barnes.

His hair was still uncut, down, and tangled. He looked like he was wearing what he'd been wearing when he stumbled in a while ago. Tony walked in, striding down the stairs, like he was on a stage. Was it slightly pathetic he could only handle this by pretending he was performing? Maybe, but if it ain't broke… "Y'know, Barnes, it's been a whole two weeks. You coulda showered. Or do you like the hobo look?"

It wasn't overly teasing, it sounded like Tony Stark, and Sam choked on his dinner to keep from laughing. It took Bucky a long moment – during which time a good bit of the room tensed up – but he very quietly replied with "At least I don't throw pity parties."

"I was not throwing a pity party," Tony defended himself almost nonchalantly, pointing a finger casually to accompany the sentence. Just like in a board meeting. "Ooh, pizza." He picked up a piece and started eating it. Bucky hesitated, then spoke again, but louder.

"You locked yourself in your workshop for two weeks, didn't really talk to anyone, didn't let practically anyone in, and drank at least twice a day. I don't know what you call that where you come from, but I call that a good old fashioned full-blown pity party." A few of the Avengers allowed themselves to snicker. Tony smirked – his characteristic smirk – and snarked right back.

"You'd know all about 'old fashioned,' wouldn't you? How old are you? 95? 96?" Tony asked, grabbing a soda, putting his pizza on a plate, and walking over to Bucky. The guy seemed able to keep up with Tony's rather…unrepentant irreverent attitude. Which, not that Tony would admit it, was slightly impressive. He was sure that Steve was mentally doing cartwheels. Within two minutes of coming up, Tony had not only not lost his nerve, but spoke to and was joking with Bucky, and was actually approaching him.

Barnes himself looked a little relaxed, a bit more at ease. It was still Stark's Tower, originally, so he probably thought Tony retained the right to kick people out. That and it's always good to be on one of the team's boss's good side. "99, actually," Bucky answered. Tony whistled.

"Wow. He's older than Capsicle. That's an achievement," Tony said. "So, you two gonna start up a bingo club?" he asked as he patted Bucky's left shoulder. He almost recoiled when he felt the metal, and Bucky almost pulled his arm away. Steve now looked on, waiting for it to become tense. "Lighten up, Stars 'n Stripes. I'm not gonna freak. You gonna freak, Barnes?"

"No, but I do have a question." Bucky turned around and looked right at Tony. Maybe right through him. "Aren't you afraid I'm gonna kill you?"

"Well, if you were at all homicidal, Jarvis woulda warned me, and besides, if you kill me, I will die in the knowledge that Pepper will thoroughly chastise you for hours afterward. Good luck surviving her." He walked back, grabbed his pizza, took an empty spot at the table – the only empty spot at the table, next to Pepper – and started eating. Pepper was trying to look upset, but she was having a hard time hiding her grin. The conversation resumed, and Bucky didn't look so upset and closed off anymore.

* * *

Tony's day was going perfectly fine till he came up from his workshop and saw Steve freaking out and Peggy Carter - who'd been brought forward in time by the Doctor-with-no-name who was a 'friend' of Fury's - trying to calm him down. "What happened?" Tony asked, tossing a rag he'd been using to wipe the grease off his hands on a barstool in the lounge.

"It's Bucky," Steve said. "They arrested him."

Tony was mad now. They broke into the Tower – _his_ Tower – and arrested someone with no notice. Actually, if he was being honest (which, these days, was a toss-up on the answer being 'yes' or 'no' when asked about his honesty), he was probably more upset that they arrested him than he was that someone broke into his Tower. Tony stormed out and started making calls to find out who 'they' were that arrested him. As it turned out, it was Ross. Tony went to his office, gave Ross a sound talking to, and demanded Bucky be given a fair trial. To his surprise, Ross agreed whole-heartedly. Ross's explanation? "I can't wait to see the look on your face when you find out who he's killed."

The trial was lengthy, but to Ross' credit, it was fair. Ross vs Bucky, really (no matter what the papers or reporters called it). Ross pulled out files and tapes, read and showed them to the court. His finishing piece for the day was the tape of a car accident. Tony recognized the driver and passenger as Howard and Maria Stark. _Mom and Dad._

Ross watched as Tony's passively angry expression turned to confusion, then horror. He watched Tony white knuckle grip the back of the bench in front of him. He watched Tony, unable to avert his eyes, see his Dad get beaten to death, then his Mom get strangled. He watched Tony lean back in his seat, breathing rapid and choppy. He waited for Tony to snap.

Tony then looked to Bucky, and in Tony's expression there was no accusation. No anger or hate, no contempt, no rage against his parents' murderer. Because Tony saw Bucky's pained expression, the tears of hurt and shame he was barely holding back, the anger at himself and the people who made him do that, made him a weapon...and felt compassionate.

Ross was decidedly upset for the rest of the trial.

The next day, Tony woke to the news plastering the 'True Fate of The Starks' all over the TV, radio, and newspapers. He felt sick to his stomach and hoped that he never came across the person who leaked it to the press, 'cause he would throttle 'em. Maybe sue them, maybe sic Pepper on them, but definitely throttle them.

Bucky avoided him the whole day, and when Tony finally tracked him down, Steve stood, ready to defend his friend. "Stand down, Capsicle. I'm not gonna tear him a new one." Steve warily stepped to the side, and Tony approached Bucky. Bucky only made eye contact for a second, then looked down. When he looked back up, he spoke.

"Tony, I am so sorry. I didn't remember I did _that_. I had no idea." Tony looked him straight in the eye and hoped his gaze said that he wasn't angry, wasn't vengeful, wasn't gonna hate Bucky for eternity.

Bucky looked extremely worried, beneath all the other conflicting emotions (that Stark knew well enough to know that none but the pity were directed at him). Tony guessed it was 'cause Bucky thought if Tony was angry, then he would try to kick him out of the Tower or hand him over to Ross, and Steve would go with him. Bucky didn't want that. Ross would probably find he wouldn't like the angry super soldier either; not that Tony was going to do it, despite the entertaining image of Ross versus one ticked off patriot. He was probably also trying to get over the fact that he killed one of his heroes.

"I know," Tony replied. Bucky sighed in relief, and Tony thought he heard Steve do the same. Bucky was later acquitted. Ross was, understandably, furious, and tried to sway Tony to his side of the argument by using Tony's parents' death. Tony, who squared his jaw, clenched his fists, and used every ounce of self-control to not beat the living daylights out of Ross for daring to use his parents against him, only managed to grit out "I hope to God you and I never see each other again, 'cause I won't have the self-control to spare you." He promptly stormed off.

For the next week afterwards, all the reporters asked him was if he hated Bucky, if he was gonna prosecute him again, what the falling out with Ross was. But the main one was if he hated Bucky. After a week of the press hounding him, he sat down and wrote out a response, and called the least annoying reporter.

He told her that he didn't hate Bucky because it wasn't his fault, that he wasn't gonna prosecute, and that Ross was ruthless and tried to use Tony's family against him. He ended with 'I'm not telling it again, so make sure you've got it written down nicely. Good day.' The news stations ran it all morning, then the focus shifted to some celebrity scandal and Tony let out a sigh of relief.

* * *

Tony still visited them. He did still talk to both parents because Mom was right there and he could still see her disapproving expression when he didn't. That expression was fading with every visit, and Tony was worried that one day he was gonna go there, and that expression would be gone. He didn't particularly like that expression, but all he had of her was a handful of pictures and that memory.

This time, though, it was different. This time, he wasn't alone at the graveyard, and he wasn't the only visitor to the Starks' graves. Bucky was there too. He stood in front of them, and Tony let him stay for a bit. Once Bucky left, he approached and saw a note. He knew he shouldn't have read it, but he did anyway. It was three sentences, carefully written. 'I'm sorry. Tony's a good guy. You did great.'

Tony smiled and put the note back down, talked to them for a while, and went home. He gave it a good, long think over on the way home, and found that acceptance was surprisingly easy. He never let on that he saw Bucky in the graveyard, and Bucky never knew Tony was there.


End file.
